Precious metals investment terms A to Z

CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade)

Chicago Board of Trade, established in 1848, is a commodity exchange and a designated contract market that offers traditional commodity and other financial instruments to traders, subject to the exchange rules and regulations.

In 2005, CBOT transformed from a non-profit organization to a for-profit organization with an IPO on the NYSE, listed as CBOT Holdings Inc. (Ticker: BOT). In 2007, the exchange merged with Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form the CME Group. Now CBOT, along with CME, NYMEX and COMEX, operates as a designated contract market (DCM) of the CME Group.

Although the exchange dealt with only agricultural commodities in the initial days of establishment, now it offers options and futures contract on precious metals, energy and even U.S. Treasury bonds. The exchange was an open auction market for decades; however, it has added electronic futures trading facility in recent years. Enormous market volume in commodity related contracts ranks CBOT as one of the top exchanges in commodity space.